Positive/negative impacts on commercialisation Flashcards
What is commercialisation?
Using sport to make a profit
How can sport generate this profit?
- Ticket sales
- Sponsorship deals
- Selling media rights
- Pay per view
- Merchandise
- Advertising
The Golden Triangle
What factors have led to the commercialisation of sport? (7)
Increased media presence in sport
= more people spectating sport, therefore larger market to make profit from
Increased advertising in sport
= brings money in through advertising deals
Increase in sponsorship of athletes/teams aided professionalism
= more money available for teams and better standards of play
Relationship of the golden triangle
= sport, media and sponsorship increasingly rely on each other, which creates commercial structure
Rise of dedicated TV/ Radio channels to sport
= increased opportunity to sell media rights
Performers and spectators can now travel worldwide (freedom of movement)
= makes the market for commercialisation huge!
Greater exposure to variety of sport
= increases market as hits more peoples interests
Impact of commercialisation on Society - Positives (3) vs Negatives (3)
Positives:
- Increase in economy
- Increase in entertainment quality, which keeps society happy!
- Increase in access to spectating sport = Society can share in celebration of success
Negatives:
- Privately owned, therefore economic benefits will only be felt by very few
- Loss of tradition as it changes sport, which people don’t like
- People tend to spectate rather than participate
Impact of commercialisation on Sport - Positives (3) vs Negatives (2)
Positives:
- Increase in funding to the sport
- Increase coverage/ exposure of that sport
- Facilitated globalisation, meaning the sport can grow
Negatives:
- Loss of tradition as it can change rules, timings etc.
- Loss of control because the media can dictate things
Impact of commercialisation on Performers - Positives (4) vs Negatives (4)
Positives:
- Increased income/ higher wages
- Increase in status/ fame
- Allows professionalism (sport their full time job)
- Increase standard of play
Negatives:
- Pressure to do well
- Win at all costs ethos, which may cause deviance
- Loss of control (i.e. forced to play through injury, forced to wear certain kit)
- Ethics; representing sponsors that aren’t ethically correct (i.e. alcohol and betting companies)
Impact of commercialisation on Spectators - Positives (4) vs Negatives (4)
Positives:
- Increased access to sport (24/7)
- Increase in media coverage (type and breadth)
- Better media coverage i.e. instant replay, different angles, replays etc.
- Improved stadia (through investment)
Negative:
- Pressure to do well
- Win at all costs ethos, which may cause deviance
- Loss of control (i.e. forced to play through injury, forced to wear certain kit)
- Ethics; representing sponsors that aren’t ethically correct (i.e. alcohol and betting companies)
Evolution of television
Terrestrial: free to air. Sport was not constantly available i.e. Sunday afternoon football
Protected events: have to be covered by free to air channels e.g. Wimbledon
Satellite or cable subscription: constant access to sport, but have to pay to access
Pay per view events: Pay additional one off fee to watch e.g. boxing
Internet evolution
- Websites: news, teams, NGBs
- YouTube: Video clips
- Social Media: Following teams and sports stars
- Live streaming or ‘On demand’: watching live footage of games anywhere at any time e.g. travelling
- Multi-media: can read, listen, watch etc. = better coverage
Radio evolution
- Local and National: Occasional mentions of sports broadcasting
- Dedicated Radio Channels: sport is the only topic e.g. Talksport
- DAB Radio: offers variety and means can access stations that are not local
Written press evolution
- Newspapers: Columns/pages given to sports news, results, fixtures, etc.
- Magazines: sporting specialist magazines with subscriptions
However, this form of media is reducing
How has media coverage in sport changed since 1980? (9)
- Many different types of media e.g. internet
- Globalised coverage e.g. Olympics, superbowl
- Wider variety of sport covered; gender, disability and minority sport
- Creation of ‘sports stars’ in the media
- Technology - Real-time sport that can be controlled e.g. pause and rewind on live events
- Media has growing control over the sport e.g. start times
- Increasingly important role of social media
- Increase in amount of pay for/subscription coverage
- More coverage (24/7)
Reasons for change since 1980s (5)
- Sports presenters were mainly male
- Football hooliganism
- Changes occurred with the introduction of satellite television in the 1990s
- Availability of wider range of media types
- More sports are now accessible, although minority, femal and disabled sports are still underrepresented
Effects of media on Individual performers - Positives (4) vs Negatives (3)
Positives:
- Can raise the profile of a performer
- Can help develop a performer’s career
- Able to earn high salaries
- Standards of play improved as it’s allowed professionalism
Negative:
- Can highlight promote sensational news, which can increase pressure to perform
- Loss of privacy/intrusion of media for sports performers
- Media demands control of sports performers
Effect of media on Individual sports - Positives (6) vs Negatives (6)
Positives:
- Raise the profile of sport
- Can increase financial revenues, in terms of sponsorship and funding
- Give more coverage to minority sports and disability sports
- Can boost participation numbers
- Attract more funds for international teams
- Increased technology, meaning fairer results
Negatives:
- Highlight negative aspects of sport e.g. hooliganism in football
- Media demand control of sport
- More people spectating rather than participating
- Biased towards male/able bodied sports
- New rules and versions go against tradition
- Increased technology has slowed the game
Effect on Media - Spectators - Positives (3) vs Negatives (2)
Positives:
- Increases number of people watching
- Rules have been influenced to makes sports more accessible to wider audience
- Different types of media are available 24/7 and sport is broadcast live around the world
Negatives:
- Provided negative coverage leading to negative role models and opinions of sports
- Cost of subscriptions to satellite TV can be prohibitive
Sport as a commodity
Commodity (definition)
Golden Triangle (definition)
Commodity = something that can be sold to media outlets or companies
Golden Triangle = Relationship and interdependence between sport, media and sponsorship
